Oct. 19, 2009
NO. 22 ANTEATERS HOST CAL POLY; AT UC DAVIS: The No. 22 UC Irvine men’s soccer team (9-4, 2-2) hosts Cal Poly Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in Big West play at Anteater Stadium. The team then travels to Davis to take on UC Davis Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Aggie Soccer Field.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Mustangs are 6-7-1 overall and 4-1 in Big West play. Junior Burgos leads Cal Poly with 15 points. Keepers Patrick McLain and Brett Finkelstein have split time in the net this season. This is the only regular season match between the two schools. UCI defeated Cal Poly 3-0 in the last meeting between the two schools in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
The Aggies are 5-10 overall 2-4 in Big West matches entering the week. Paul Marcoux leads UCD with 12 points. Keeper Ryan McCowan has a 1.65 goals against average and two shutouts on the year. UC Davis beat UCI 2-1 in double overtime in the first meeting this season.
WEEK IN REVIEW: The ‘Eaters beat UC Riverside 4-2 in their lone match of the week. Senior Irving Garcia (San Luis, Ariz./Yavapai College) had two goals and an assist including the game-winner. Junior goalkeeper Victor Chinchilla (Palmdale/Taft College) had four saves in the match.
HONORS ROLL IN FOR GARCIA: Irving Garcia earned TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week honors for the second week in a row following his two goals and an assist against UCR. He was named TopDrawerSoccer Men’s College Player of the Week as well as being named to their Team of the Week, the Soccer America Team of the Week, the College Soccer News National Team of the Week and Big West Player of the Week following a seven point week at New Mexico and Cal State Northridge.
He was named to Soccer America’s Preseason All-America second team heading into the 2009 season. Garcia had scored at least a point in eight straight matches earlier this year going back to the 2008 season. Garcia was named one of the 2009 Players to Watch in the Big West by Goal.com.
FREIGHT TRAIN GETS ROLLING: Junior Spencer “Freight Train” Thompson (Ahwatukee, Ariz./Mountain Pointe HS) was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Men’s College Team of the Week earlier this season following a three point performance against Sacramento State. He now has five goals and two assists on the year.
WALKER’S FAST START: Junior Amani Walker (San Diego/Francis Parker HS) started the 2009 season where he left off in 2008. Walker’s five goals this season have earned him national attention. He was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week as well as the Soccer America Men’s Team of the Week and Big West Player of the Week for the opening week of the season.
ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS ADD UP: UCI played in three in-season tournaments this season, earning multiple honors. UCI won the UCI College Classic and took third at both the Marquette Invitational and the Nike Aztec Soccer Classic. Irving Garcia was named to the All-Tournament team in all three tournaments. Juniors Corey Attaway (Chino HS), Spencer Thompson and Amani Walker each were named to two All-Tournament teams. Senior Carlos Aguilar (Palmdale/Taft College), Andrew Fontein (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) and freshman Jonathan Prieto (La Habra HS) each picked up one honor.
IN THE RANKINGS: UCI is currently ranked 22nd in the NSCAA/adidas poll. The team has been ranked has high as eighth nationally in the Soccer America poll this season. UCI has been ranked as high as 13th in the College Soccer News poll, ninth in the NSCAA/adidas poll and 11th in the SoccerTimes poll. UCI is currently ranked third in the Far West region by the NSCAA/adidas regional poll.
ANTEATER LEADERS: Irving Garcia leads the team with 20 points on seven goals and six assists. Spencer Thompson is second with 14 points with five goals and four assists. Amani Walker is third with 12 points on five goals and and two assists. Carlos Aguilar is fourth with eight points. Keeper Andrew Fontein has 26 saves, a 0.96 goals against average, an assist and four shutouts on the year.
ANTEATER RECORD BOOK: Spencer Thompson is seventh all-time at UCI with six career game-winners. Thompson is tied for 10th all-time with 17 career goals and is 10th all-time in total points with 45. Irving Garcia is tied for seventh in game-winners with six, ninth in assists with 15 and is tied for 11th with 43 points and is 16th with 14 career goals. Amani Walker is tied for 17th with 12 career goals and is tied for 20th with 32 career points.
Andrew Fontein is 10th in saves with 99 in his career and is tied for fifth with nine shutouts. His 1.00 goals against average has him in second place currently on the career list.
FOLLOW THE ‘EATERS WITH GAMETRACKER: Fans are now able to follow all UCI home soccer matches on the internet with Gametracker. By clicking on the Gametracker link on the UCI schedule page, fans will be able to follow the action at Anteater Stadium over the internet. Many UCI road matches will also feature Gametracker, check the UCI schedule page for availability.
UCI’S COACHING STAFF The Anteaters are led by head coach George Kuntz who is in his 15th year at the UCI helm. Kuntz was named NSCAA Far West Region Coach of the Year in 2008 for the second time in the past three years. Additionally, he has been the Big West Coach of the Year in two of the past three years.
Assistant coach Chris Volk is in his 13th season at UCI as coach Kuntz’s lead assistant. In 2008, Volk was named the NSCAA/adidas West Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
2009 Stats
Player Goals Assists Points GWG
Irving Garcia 7 6 20 4
Spencer Thompson 5 4 14 2
Amani Walker 5 2 12 2
Carlos Aguilar 2 4 8 0
Jonathan Prieto 3 1 7 0
Kevin Santora 1 3 5 1
Corey Attaway 1 1 3 0
Jorge Reyes 0 1 1 0
Joel Bagby 0 1 1 0
Gray Bailey 0 1 1 0
Andrew Fontein 0 1 1 0
Goalkeeper Min. Svs GA GAA SHO
Andrew Fontein 751 26 8 0.96 4
Victor Chinchilla 472 17 6 1.14 1
